By Any Means Necessary, despite the horrible name, are a very promising sounding and very young looking death/thrash band from Austin, Texas.

Their first recorded output, this self-titled EP is three short tracks (all under 4 minutes) of pure aggression. If I had to compare, I’d say take early slayer, newer Kataklysm and Lamb of God, throw it in a blender and you’d be in the ballpark. “The Discord of War”, “Charlatan” and “Erase the Plague” all move at breakneck speed, feature some heavy thrashing groove in places, alternating with semi-tech, jagged riffing, Slayer-esque soloing, and gruff, death-ish vocals that are largely decipherable. The bass is inaudible, but other than that, the production is clear and surprisingly good for a first EP/demo.

Given some time, I could see this band morphing into one of the premier death/thrash bands out there. But with less than 10 minutes of music here, it’s hard to tell. For the time being, this EP is enjoyable and well executed, especially for such a young band, but hardly anything new. Certainly worth checking out if you’re into death/thrash. The whole EP can be streamed on their Myspace.

[Visit the band's website]

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